耽美

Chinese

		covet; enjoy	beautiful; beauty; America
trad. (耽美)		耽	美
simp. #(耽美)		耽	美
Literally: “to covet beauty”.

Etymology

Originally coined in Japanese as a translation of “aestheticism” (equivalent Chinese term: 唯美主義), and was applied in the description of BL-themed comics since the 1970s which at the time were mostly aesthetic and romantic. The latter meaning was later reintroduced into Chinese (as wasei kango (和製漢語)).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): dānměi

  (Zhuyin): ㄉㄢ ㄇㄟˇ

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: dānměi
    • Zhuyin: ㄉㄢ ㄇㄟˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: danměi
    • Wade–Giles: tan¹-mei³
    • Yale: dān-měi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: danmeei
    • Palladius: даньмэй (danʹmɛj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tän⁵⁵ meɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/

Noun

耽美

1. (slang, gay slang) love between men or boys, especially as a literary genre; boys' love (BL)

Derived terms

• 耽改

See also

• 耽美狼
• 斷背／断背 (duànbèi)
• 拉拉 (lālā)
• 男同 (nántóng)
• 女同 (nǚtóng)
• 同志 (tóngzhì)
• 同性戀／同性恋 (tóngxìngliàn)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
耽	美
たん Jinmeiyō	び Grade: 3
on’yomi

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) た​んび [táꜜǹbì] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [tã̠mbʲi]

Noun

耽(たん)美(び) • (tanbi) ^{←たんび (tanbi)?}

1. An artistic approach that identifies beauty as the highest value, which is to be absorbed in the world.

Descendants

• → Chinese: 耽美 (dānměi)